SCUGOG -- Esther Inglis’s first visit to Scugog Island was enough to convince her that it would be a great place for plein air artists to paint. And from there it wasn’t a big jump to arrange the first Scugog Island Plein Air Festival.

“We went for a drive on Scugog Island and the first thing that hit my mind was, ‘My God, what a beautiful island’,” says the festival organizer. “And also plein air hit my mind.”

She notes that the island’s varied landscapes make it ideal for artists to capture various scenes en plein air, or outside, in the open air on location.

Presented by Gallery on the Lake, the free festival is July 24 to 26 and will see 30 to 40 artists in 10 or more locations working in Port Perry and on the island. On July 26 the Scugog Shores Museum will host an exhibition of work by the participating artists in addition to music and entertainment.

There will generally be two to four artists at each of the locations and they include local painters Norman R. Brown and Lloyd Wilson of Clarington, Bob Thackeray of Oshawa, Wendy Bermingham of Pickering and Sheila Davis of Brock.

Inglis says in addition to celebrating the beautiful area landscapes, the festival celebrates Gallery on the Lake’s newest location in Port Perry, established eight months ago.

But the festival is also intended to show visitors to the painting spots how much work is involved in the creative process, in addition to the unique challenges posed by painting outdoors. In that sense, the festival’s unique focus isn’t so much on seeing completed works but on seeing paintings as they are created.

Inglis notes when the Buckhorn-based gallery was looking for a second location in which to set up shop, they initially considered another town and then locating on the island.

The idea for the festival was put aside for a bit, but not for long, and Inglis says she had a valuable local resource in the person of local arts patron and enthusiast Kent Farndale, who gladly agreed to help and provided “all kinds of advice,” most of which Inglis followed.

Still, she says “we didn’t have a lot of time to make it happen.”

But the pieces all fell into place and Inglis notes Jessica Fleury, who just happened to walk into the Buckhorn gallery one day, was enlisted and has done a lot of the legwork.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen.” Inglis says of the first festival. “If it all works, we’re looking to make it an annual event so it can grow and become bigger.”

She says as the island isn’t too big, it will be easy for visitors to travel from location to location.

You can find out where the artists will be painting by visiting the gallery at 268 Queen St. E. and picking up a brochure. You can also get a brochure at the museum or online at scugogpleinair.com.

“It promises to be a lot of fun,” Inglis says, adding the festival slogan for the self-guided event is ‘Experience Artistic Creation’.

“It is an experience/adventure for people.”

Mike Ruta covers the arts and entertainment for the Metroland Media Group’s Durham Region Division. He can be reached at
MRuta@durhamregion.com
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